Mark Kirk called a military imposter

U. S. Senate candidate Andy Martin says Mark Kirk “shamelessly exaggerates” his military role. Martin says Kirk tries to dress up congressional visits as “fighting” and “tours of duty.” “Kirk is a complete nut case,” Martin says. “Once again we see the media lying to voters about who Mark Kirk really is. Every veteran should be outraged at the way Mark Kirk tries to make a joke of the chain of command.”

“Proof of Kirk’s misrepresentations is hard to come by because he avoids public contact and meets in secret with powerful lobbyists and business interests. But Thursday the curtain was pulled back by NBC News, and the result was shocking:

“When a reserve officer is actually ‘on duty’ or ‘serving a tour of duty,’ as Kirk claims he was, that officer is subject to the strict military chain of command. Any veteran knows that. I hold an Honorable Discharge from the USAF reserves although I was not on active duty. Junior officers know their place.

“What does Kirk say he did in Afghanistan? According to NBC News, Kirk says he ‘came up with a number of recommendations that I gave to Gen. McChrystal.’ In other words, junior officer Kirk was meeting with and telling military expert general McChrystal how to fight McChrystal’s war. Hello? A few hours after arriving in Afghanistan? Kirk knew more and better than the general?

“This is Kirk’s idea of ‘service’ and ‘active duty?’ Telling the generals what to do after arriving in that country a few hours earlier? Kirk’s behavior is a sickening spectacle and abuse of the Navy. Kirk is a military imposter who tries to misrepresent what he does.

“Senators and Representatives go on inspection tours all the time. That kind of oversight is entirely appropriate and constitutional. But it is not constitutional or proper military etiquette for a congressman to claim he is ‘serving’ as a junior officer ‘on a tour of duty’ when in fact he is using his congressional position to tell the general how to fight the war. The idea that Kirk knew more about the war than the general, a few hours after Kirk arrived there, is an example of Kirk’s megalomania.

“Kirk has been engaging in these charades for years. He claims to have ‘fought’ in several wars. His political brochures display him in a flight suit (hello George Bush?). Yesterday he told the Associated Press he was ‘fighting’ in Afghanistan last week. Does a congressman telling the general how to ‘fight’ qualify as ‘fighting?’ Obviously not. The Associated Press and Sun-Times printed sheer nonsense:http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/1979459,mark-kirk-gay-ad-response-010710.article

“Only in Mark Kirk’s vivid imagination is what he did in Afghanistan last week ‘fighting.’ His shameless exaggeration and gross misrepresentation devalues the real fighting being done by real warriors to fight terrorism.

“Kirk is either a pathological liar, or a crass politician who has contempt for both the public and the media, or one of the great military imposters of all time. Real veterans and real officers and enlisted men should be outraged by Kirk’s perversion of the chain of command to promote his political campaign. The sad thing is that if Kirk told the truth–that he went on a congressional inspection visit–he would be well within his right to do so. In other words, Kirk invents lies to flatter himself, when the truth would be a respectable explanation for his activity. Such inflational behavior is a sign of Kirk’s mental illness. He has to lie because the truth is not big enough for him. He is playing games with reality when he says he was ‘serving’ as a junior officer and telling general McChrystal how to fight the war.

“Any veteran who pauses to reflect on how Kirk manipulates his reserve status to falsely claim he is ‘fighting’ and serving ‘on duty’ when he is merely on a congressional trip, would be sickened at the way Kirk is misusing our brave men and women as political props for his campaign,” Martin charges.

“I love our flag and I was proud to serve, and all of us are indebted to our brave men and women who serve the cause of freedom 24/7. But Mark Kirk is a disgrace to the Navy and a disgrace to himself. He is a Walter Mitty ‘warrior’ and nothing more. He needs to see a doctor.”